ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador’s premier drew opposition fire Thursday after saying he wants to cut the size of the 48-seat legislature by 10 before an election he must call by the fall.

Paul Davis said he wants a panel selected by the Speaker and the provincial chief justice to review whether the legislature should be made smaller.

The electoral boundaries commission was set to do a 10-year mandated review in 2016.

But as tanking Brent crude prices drive the oil-dependent province into at least a $916-million deficit, Davis said the time to act is now.

“This is about fiscal management,” he said outside the legislature. Davis estimates that trimming 10 legislature members would save about $2.5 million a year.

“All parties are in agreement that we need to reduce the size of the house of assembly.”

Davis said it makes sense to make those changes this year rather than have to wait for them to take effect after the next general election in 2019.

The premier is obliged under provincial law to call an election within a year of his swearing-in on Sept. 26. He said the boundary review commission would be asked to consider a 38-seat legislature and recommend which districts could be trimmed.

The 10-year review process usually takes six months or more, involving extensive public consultations and a report tabled in the legislature.

Davis said he would ask the commission to instead complete its work in about 90 days. Even then, he conceded there may be legislation changes that could extend the spring sitting and delay a fall election until a few weeks later than the law requires.

Liberal Opposition Leader Dwight Ball has repeatedly called for an eight-seat reduction in the legislature. He said Thursday that he wouldn’t quibble over a slightly later election, but blasted Davis for not acting sooner.

“Just a few months before an election he decides to come in and change the rules?

“If they were committed to do this, they would have done it a few years ago. There is a process that is established that we need to abide by.”

Ball said he needs to see details before deciding whether to support a fast-tracked review but is concerned it would not give voters a fair say.

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael said she was horrified by the premier’s move and that it comes close to an attempt to rig districts.

“I think this is flying in the face of democracy, what the premier’s doing right now. And you know we have a name for this kind of thing … and it’s gerrymandering. I believe that’s what’s going on.”

Michael said her three-member caucus will filibuster if necessary to block any rushed changes in the legislature.

She said she is not against a smaller legislature, but Davis should let the boundary commission do its work as planned.

Christopher Dunn, a political scientist at Memorial University of Newfoundland, said the proposal so close to an election “smacks of political opportunism.”

“It’s a narrow proposal which only concerns numbers and economizing costs. It doesn’t pay attention to the broader needs of legislative reform which all the parties have talked about.”

Dunn and other political scientists have raised as an issue the lack of committee oversight in the house of assembly. They point out that cutting representatives may save cash but could also diminish scrutiny, expertise and accountability.

Davis said that politicians in the province on average would still represent fewer constituents than most across the country even if 10 seats disappeared.

Labrador by law gets four seats. Cutting that allotment would be a contentious prospect.

Davis said the boundary review commission would be asked to recommend any district changes as part of its population analysis and broader study.